lesfen

little ms foodie... it looks like you guys had a BLAST!! Just gorgeous!

My husband doesn't clean his plate. He'll leave blobs of sauces, veggie pieces, etc., on his plate and THEN he'll put it in the sink like that. My sibs and I were brought up using utencils with precision and if we couldn't get it with our utencils, sop it up with bread. Don't take more than you intend to eat and clean your plate. Those were the rules at our house and at grandma's house. I'm whining. If he would at least scrape what it doesn't eat into the trash... I don't know, it would probably still bug me.

Crap... I went shopping yesterday and was reminded of a few more... Saffron or Yellow Rice. We LOVE this stuff. If my 22-month-old even SEES the pouch in the cupboard she says "I want rice." I probably buy 3 or 4 pouches of it when I shop. BUT... I just found a recipe for it and it doesn't look very hard at all. I'm going to give it a shot next week. Maybe I can mark it off my list. Red/Black Beans and rice. I don't use Zataran's tho'. I can't remember the brand name right now tho'. I'm pretty sure that this is just sheer laziness.

I have never had Spam. It's not really a snob thing... I don't come from snob stock. Mom couldn't get past the jelly and I guess that got passed on. Hubby says that it's "salty and delicious".

My grandma makes her own Ketchup (catsup). It involves tomato paste, nylons, and some mystery spices. Seems just as easy to use what's on the shelf. Nylons...ewww.

Hubby just said that he'd be a cucumber, and hope to be mis-used. There's your male perspective. I'd probably be an avocado. Not much to look at on the outside... but smooth, creamy, unassuming, and impossible to live without once you've had one.

Let me help you! IMHO, one of eG's ← Wow... that's a whole lotta info to digest. I'll have to keep that thread handy this winter. I really want to make a nice big pot of black bean soup sometime. As for Shake and Bake... I was never really a fan, but I sure did love me some Oven Fry. Ooohhhh Oven Fry. I don't think I've had any in 10+ years. I remember standing over the baking pan after dinner and picking at the greasy bits, getting my hands smacked by my mother as she was trying to do the very same thing.

Here are mine... -Rhode's white bread dough. We LOVE pepperoni rolls and calzones and I just haven't quite worked up the stones to make my own dough. That'll be a project for this winter... as soon as football is over and I have my weekends back. -Heinz Chili Sauce. Plain old ketchup (catsup?) can't compete with this stuff. -Hellman's mayo. I just can't be bothered to make mayo for every sandwich that gets made in this house. -Giant container of "fresh" salsa from Sam's Club. I can't think of the brand name right now and the current container is in the 'fridge at the office. I haven't been using it, what with the current abundance of summer tomatoes, but I really love this stuff. It's HOT!! -Hunt's canned Garlic and Herb variety spaghetti sauce. The best and cheapest stuff out there for a terrific "go to" quick dinner. Once again, the summer's bounty has kept this at bay, but it really is a very good base for your mid-week pasta needs. -Canned beans. I must have an irrational fear of dried beans because I always get the canned ones. I need to get over this one. Huh... that's not as bad as I thought it would be. I can see myself eliminating the bread dough and the canned beans at some point, but the other ones are staying.

← Quisp is a funny thing around here... you can't find it in our big chain markets, but there is a closeout type place (Marc's) that has it once in a blue moon. It's gotta still be made somewhere. I hope it's still being made somewhere... otherwise I've eaten some really old cereal!!

WE GOT SERVED!!!

Most markets have Maypo here in NE Ohio. Sorry. Love that stuff. The only thing that I WANT that I can't get are Mother's brand cookies. I got hooked on Flaky Flix when I lived in Anaheim and now that I'm home I can't get them. I still have some friends in Cali that are nice enough to send me a couple of packages for Christmas... but... but... that's still three months away! (Sniffle) I don't know if I can wait that long.

These sandwich pictures are killing me!! Sandwiches are really the ultimate comfort food for me and you all just keep raising the bar. Daniel, those look amazing!

Oh damn. MASHED hot dogs? I could barely type that without dry heaving. No, it's never been that bad. Regarding the jealousy thing... Yeah, I'm a little jealous. I'll admit it. I can handle it. I'M JEALOUS BECAUSE A WOMAN THAT CAN'T EVEN HOLD A KNIFE GETS TO HAVE HER OWN COOKING SHOW. The other day I was thinking about TFN and wondering what they're holiday parties must be like now-a-days... I mean, back in the day they must have been a hoot. David, Emeril, Mario, Sara, Bobby, Jack, Jacques, etc.... hangin' out, talkin' shop, and probably having a pretty good time. Now, if they even show up, those guys probably sit back in a corner drinking and doing exactly what we're doing right now. Can you imagine being Mario and having to make nicey-nice with Sandra Lee and Mark Summers??!! ("Dude, weren't you on Double Dare? WTF?")

Oh FoodMan... that plate looks like a little piece of heaven. Percyn... I'm not familiar with Lamb Biryani but now I'm going to have to do some research. That looks wonderful!!. I had to use up some of my father's giant tomatoes this weekend before they exploded on my kitchen counter. Last night I made a very spicy sauce of onion, garlic, evoo, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, those giant tomatoes, some black olives, and a knob of butter, served over mostacolli. It was really, really good. It left a nice tingle in your mouth. No leftovers. I'm really going to miss these tomatoes when they're gone.

I just noticed that she can't use a knife. I mean... she actually looks uncomfortable with it. I'm really surprised that she hasn't lopped off a finger yet, or more accurately, her thumb. No wonder she buys everything pre-cut.

Did I mention that I'm trapped in Semi-Rural Ohio? These are her people! My comments are usually limited to "you know, it's just as easy to (insert basic cooking technique here)." BTW... your potluck example looks like pure bliss compared to what I actually endured last Wednesday. Let's have a look, shall we? 1. Supermarket veggie tray. Mmm... celery. 2. Some kind of layered salad. It wouldn't have been bad except for the SOUPY Miracle Whip dressing that she tossed it with. I can't deal with the sweet dressing. It streamed off of the serving tongs. It she would have served it on the side, I would have eaten it. This, by the way is a potluck staple in my office. 3. Macaroni Salad. Not bad. 4. Nacho Dip. Some sort of processed cheese mixed with Jimmy Dean sausage (breakfat sausage), served in a crockpot. Quite possibly the saltiest, most nauseating thing that I have ever put in my mouth. 5. Chicken Wings, purchased from a local pub. Not great, but not bad either. 6. Sloppy Joe's, also served in a crockpot, complete with a quarter inch of grease on top. 7. Smoked sausage and sauerkraut. Not bad... the kraut was a little sweet, but it wasn't all bad. She used some really nice sausage from a local Amish community. 8. Sausage balls. Sandra would have been proud of these little tid-bits. Jimmy Dean sausage (Top's must have had a sale.) and bisquik, topped with cheddar cheese. Weird. That's all I have to say about that. I made a tomato phyllo pizza. People really seemed to like it and they thought that it was fancy. I have to thank my dad for the amazing tomato from his garden. Despite the weird weather that we've had, the tomatoes have been the best in years. The only thing missing was the crescent roll veggie pizza. So yeah, that's what I'm up agains around here.

Chip dip. Chip dip. Chip dip. Helluva Good French Onion Dip. Dear God, make it stop. The little tub that I got seems to be regenerating it's contents.

Who's their art director, Deter from SNL's "Sprockets"? "The food... its agony is GOOOORGEOUS! I am as happy as a little girl!" ← Would you like to touch my turkey? Go on, touch him.

Well, either her black magic, or her grasp of universe bending physics to be able to have both medium rare on the outside and crispy on the outside are a sure sign that she is actually a dimenion-traveling alien who is bent on the subjugation and subsequent enslavement of the population of the Earth to satisfy the energy needs of her people. The fastest way I know to send these pan-dimensional overlords back to their base to regroup is to serve them a cheap freezer pizza topped with cubed silken tofu, always eaten in front of the TV while watching Rocky and Bullwinkle reruns. Aside from that, her human-enslaving culinary selections aren't deadly, they are just delectable honeypots to bring you willingly into her grasp. And actually, freezing like that has some tenderizing properties, amongst other things, so there should be no reason to worry about the food. But, beware when she pulls out her Space Vixen costume and enslaves you. You have been warned. ← You know, we have been known to call the old bat a witch, but it was more a reference to her disposition... hm.

If you can, I would wait until the event to make a final decision. I know that at my wedding we had 121 "confirmed" guests, but went ahead with our 150 count. Good thing, because we had an extra 20 people that decided to show up without RSVPing... "You were serious about that?" No joke. I would charge them for the 200 and let them take the leftovers. Out-of-town family will still be around the next day and I'm sure that the family will appreciate having the extra food. Nobody wants to have to cook and entertain after a wedding!

I believe he may have meant Francis Bacon not Roger or even the other earlier Francis, but I can see as to how the confusion might arise. If there's nothing else we should know here, it's our bacons. ← We're trying to sort it out now... he has a few paintings in mind and swears that they are by someone named Bacon. They sure don't sound like Francis Bacon to me. Altho that turkey could have modeled for him. ← I found it! He was talking about Jerome Bosch's "Hell"... and now that I can see what he was talking about, I can see that he didn't know what he was talking about! That grotesque cover really is much closer to Bacon! Whew. I can finally sleep at night.

My mom's Aunt Diane is the queen of roast meats. When there's meat to be roasted, she's the one we call on. Her roasts (beef, pork, lamb, doesn't matter) are always perfectly medium rare on the outside with mouthwatering crispy fat on the outside. Nothing fancy... salt, cracked pepper, garlic powder, and stuffed with slivered garlic. She doesn't use dried herbs because she says that it takes away from the flavor of good meat. (She's also incredibly shrewd when it comes to selecting and purchasing said meat. She's used the same guy for 30 years and won't even go near the supermarket selection.) Now, we're all competant cooks, but none of us have ever been able to duplicate her results. We've watched her work... Sear in the dutch oven, add a little stock, and roast. Simple, right? Right. Well, like I said, we've never been able to match her meat. She finally gave up the goods... She always freezes her roasts and then partially thaws them. They're still frozen in the middle when she cooks them. Is this safe? I mean, we've never gotten sick, but It made me wonder if this was a risky practice. Any thoughts?

Gorgeous!!!

Hubby called it "poo a la mode".